German Federal Coast Guard

The coast guard of Germany (German: Koordinierungsverbund Küstenwache) is an association of a number of federal agencies. It is not a single entity, like the coast guards of other countries, for instance the United States Coast Guard. Its prime tasks are border protection, maritime environmental protection, shipping safety, fishery protection and customs enforcement.

The agencies that comprise the Küstenwache have a common plan of action and direct their operations from two Coast Guard Centers (German: Küstenwachzentren), Neustadt (Holstein) for the Baltic Sea and Cuxhaven for the North Sea.

Structure and responsibilities

multi-purpose vessel Arkona

Coast guard ship Meerkatze

Units and personnel from these federal ministries and agencies form the coast guard:

• Bundespolizei / Federal Police (Ministry of the Interior)
• Waterways and Shipping Offices (Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration [WSV] / Federal Ministry for Traffic, Construction and City Development)
• Wasserzoll / Waterways Customs Office (Federal Customs Administration / Federal Ministry of Finance)
• Federal Agency for Agriculture and Nutrition [BLE] (Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food, and Agriculture)

Coast guard personnel

The Küstenwache is a civilian service and a law enforcement organization. As such, the personnel serving with the Küstenwache include both policemen (in the case of the Bundespolizei and Wasserzoll), as well as civilians from the Waterways and Shipping Office and other related German federal agencies. Küstenwache personnel do not have combatant status, as the Küstenwache is not a military as is the case with other coast guards. For comparison, the United States Coast Guard is both a military service and a law enforcement organization, with its commissioned officers having both police and military powers. However, police officers serving with the Küstenwache retain their usual police powers, adjusted to the maritime nature of their job.

Ships and other vehicles of the German Coast Guard

The new customs cruiser Glückstadt

German Federal Police BP21 Bredstedt

Numerous ships and boats from the aforementioned institutions (Bundespolizei: six ships; Wasserzoll: eight coustoms cutters, four customs cruisers; WSV: three seafit multi-purpose ships; BLE: three fishery protection boats, three fishery research ships) are in use, 27 ships in total.

The ships are all marked with the letting "Küstenwache" as well as a black-red-gold signet on the hull and the coast guard's coat-of-arms; however, the hull colour differs from agency to agency: blue for the Bundespolizei, green for the Wasserzoll and black for the WSV.

A number of helicopters and planes are in use as well.

Ships include the following:

• BP17 Bayreuth
• BP21 Bredstedt
• BP22 Neustrelitz
• MS Hiddensee
• MS Priwall
• MS Kalkgrund
• FSB Seeadler
• Hamburg
• Meerkatze
• SUBS Mellum

See also

• Law enforcement in Germany
• Policing in Germany
• German Navy

External links

• Official website Template:De icon